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Scott Walker's Partisan Politics Cost Taxpayers Over $600 Million

Posted March 1, 2016

Scott Walker's Partisan Politics Cost Taxpayers Over $600 Million

MADISON - As President Obama to Milwaukee to celebrate the success of the ACA, reports from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show Gov. Scott Walker's solely partisan, and political opposition to the Affordable Care Act is costing taxpayers in Wisconsin over $600 million. Journal Sentinel’s Guy Boulton wrote on Monday, “The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated in December that Wisconsin is on track to spend $678.6 million more through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017, than the state would have had Walker accepted the federal money available through the law."

“It is beyond me why the governor wouldn’t accept federal dollars to help the hard-working families of Wisconsin,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning said on Thursday. "Gov. Scott Walker could have saved millions of dollars for the taxpayers and helped thousands of Wisconsin families, but instead, he put ideology and politics ahead of the need to do what is right for Wisconsinites."

Gov. Scott Walker and his rubber-stamp legislature rejected $4.4 billion in federal funds to expand our successful BadgerCare program. Instead of accepting federal funding that would have covered the majority of the costs, Gov. Walker created a plan to kick more then 92,000 people off their healthcare, including some children. Not only did Wisconsin Republicans compromise access to affordable healthcare for Wisconsinites, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, they missed an opportunity to create an additional 10,000 jobs in our state.

Walker's decision to reject federal funds to expand BadgerCare had immediate harmful effect on Wisconsinites. Now, we know for certain that the hits keep on coming as our state continues to insure fewer people and Wisconsin taxpayers remain on the hook for more than $600 million through 2017.